Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Untreated Hamilton wastewater was discharged into the harbour Sunday night after an equipment failure at the city's Woodward Avenue wastewater treatment plant. That day's heavy rains, which continued into Monday morning, led the plant to be overwhelmed with water. In those cases, the plant enters "bypass mode," during which some of the excess water is released into the harbour.